Over the past decade hydrogen has gained significant momentum as a source of energy. For quite some time, hydrogen has promised to be an excellent source for a future renewable, pollution-free energy source. Oil used to produce energy and for transportation is increasingly costly. The United States, for example, pays hundreds of billions of dollars for imported foreign oil each year.
Hydrogen is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and non-toxic, which makes it different from every other fuel commonly used today. Hydrogen is the preferred fuel to use to power fuel cells, where the only emissions are water and some heat. Similarly, when hydrogen is burned in an internal combustion engine, the only emissions created are water and heat. Additionally, hydrogen is a desirable fuel to use to replace hydrocarbon based fuels in large electrical power generating plants, as well as in most other hydrocarbon based energy systems.
Hydrogen is an element, and it is the most abundant element in the universe. Hydrogen is present in water and is found in that and other forms in all living things. It is also the simplest, lightest element, having only one proton and one electron. Although hydrogen is all around us, it is rarely found in its free-floating or elemental form. It combines with other elements to make common things such as water, sugars, hydrocarbons and carbohydrates.
Approximately 95% of elemental hydrogen is currently produced by the “steam reforming” of natural gas at refineries. Unfortunately, the steam reforming process uses non-renewable fossil fuels and produces pollution containing high carbon emissions. It is therefore desirable, as a long term goal for economic development and production of clean energy, to produce hydrogen from renewable energy sources such as wind or solar power, biomass (plant life), and even from water.
Two of the three most desirable renewable energy sources for production of hydrogen are biomass and water. Neither are very efficient when using presently known processes, which have slow production rates and low volume yield of hydrogen.
Biomass (i.e. plant material) is a renewable energy source and uses an organic process which cleanly produces hydrogen in an environmentally friendly method. Most of the United States has abundant biomass resources, including waste from sugar beet plants, canneries, ethanol and biodiesel producing plants. Long range demonstration projects are showing that the organic biomass methods (the use of enzymes, catalysts, fermentation, and algae) may be used, renewably, in the future to produce hydrogen. Sugar rich wastes produce the most hydrogen, and it is believed that early stage production scale facilities will be able to produce limited volumes of hydrogen within five to ten years.
Water can be used to produce hydrogen utilizing the process of “electrolysis”. In electrolysis, hydrogen is produced by passing an electric current through water to cause dissociation of hydrogen and oxygen. However, this process requires substantial amounts of electricity, and when using the most common sources of electricity (i.e. burning of coal, oil or gas) at least some pollution is created. If the electricity is provided by wind or solar energy, the hydrogen is essentially produced without creating pollution. Unfortunately, there is not a great abundance of wind or solar electricity, so the main source of electrical power available to make hydrogen is primarily fossil fuels with carbon based emissions. It is a goal of Government and industry to find a more efficient and lower pollution generating system and method to produce large volumes of hydrogen and hydrogen related power.
Current hydrogen production methods limit any significant use of hydrogen as an energy source due to the high cost and limited capacity for hydrogen production. There is not sufficient hydrogen production capacity or distribution systems to compete with the use of coal, fuel oil, diesel oil, gasoline and natural gas as energy sources. The technology is readily available to convert electric plants, heating units, and industrial facilities to burn hydrogen rather than fossil fuels, but the limited availability of hydrogen severely limits any such development despite the desirability for the environment and reducing the country's energy dependence on oil.
It has also long been recognized that many transportation problems, including significant pollution produced from vehicles, can be reduced or eliminated if an answer is found for improving the efficiency and volumes of hydrogen production with lower cost. It is quite feasible to convert today's internal combustion engines to use hydrogen fuel, as is commonly done for propane and natural gas powered vehicles. However, convenient access to hydrogen is a significant limiting factor. Blending hydrogen with fossil fuels has also been thought to be an early next step because it does not require independent distributions systems. The addition of hydrogen to fossil fuel may increase performance and decrease pollution. However, even that simple step is blocked from going forward due to the limited capacities and high cost, and risks, of producing and distributing hydrogen.
In terms of capacity, the amount of hydrogen currently produced in the United States each year is reported to be only enough to power approximately 1 million hydrogen powered vehicles for about three days. Even if a sufficient volume of hydrogen could be produced, transportation and distribution of hydrogen also can limit its use. Hydrogen, after it is produced, must be compressed as a gas or cooled to a liquid (−253° C.) and stored in heavy cylinders, then transported to the point of use. The compressing, storing, and transporting of hydrogen essentially creates an expense, a safety hazard and a log jam in the distribution system when attempting to move large volumes to the final point of use. With the technologies currently available, and as the use of hydrogen increases, the infrastructure, production and distribution systems will need to be dramatically increased. Alternatively, new technologies must be discovered to both significantly increase efficient production of hydrogen, and simplify the distribution methods for hydrogen.
Cost is a significant factor limiting the use of any hydrogen process, and especially renewable energy based hydrogen generation. It now costs several times more to make hydrogen from renewable energy sources than by producing hydrogen form fossil fuel. And, it costs several times more (on an energy out basis) to make hydrogen from fossil fuels. It is evident that the cost of making hydrogen can only spiral upward, in the future, (as it is compared to fossil fuels) as industry attempts to improve environmental effects by producing hydrogen from renewable energy sources. It is a primary purpose of the apparatus and methods of the present invention to reduce the cost and the pollution generated when producing hydrogen and hydrogen related power, as compared to both fossil and renewable energy sources.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have an apparatus and method to produce hydrogen efficiently and economically, and to have the ability to produce hydrogen close to the point of use of the hydrogen. It is would also be desirable to have an apparatus and method to provide a source of hydrogen related power.